Do lawyers deserve all the jokes they get? Decide for yourself.
My Szechuan Pork was featured in The Kitchn and my Brown Sugar Cheesecake in Foodista. Such a compliment from them.
Did I tell you that I put some water and sugar to make syrup on the stove, forgot about it, went for a walk, then dashed to the supermarket to buy some groceries and then got home to a cloud of smoke? Smoke so dense by then, that I started coughing and had to open windows everywhere. Not that they were much help, since the day outside was hot and humid, not a leaf moving from the lack of wind.
My poor steel jar was left looking like this. The syrup crept to the top and when I poked with a spoon the jar was completely filled. I mean, it was like I had filled it with black, hardened foam. So cleaning it took a while. A big while. Like a few days. Hot water and soap, let it rest, hot water and soap, let it rest, scrub it, hot water and soap, let it rest, scrub it…you get the idea.
The upside, for you especially, is that if you ever want to buy a resistant steel saucepan, make sure it´s surgical steel. Doesn’t it sound cool? Surgical steel pans. Well, the thing is I bought a whole set many years ago. They told me they were able to ride out any wave. And they were absolutely right. I mean, it doesn’t get much worse than syrup boiling for two hours.
Trust me. So remember, surgical steel. And if you keep an immaculate, magazine-worthy kitchen they were meant for you.
Trust me. So remember, surgical steel. And if you keep an immaculate, magazine-worthy kitchen they were meant for you.
Onto our food finds. I had this asian dish twice last week, once with chicken and fresh asparagus. I highly suggest you try it, it’s simple and so flavorful. Last week I made slow roasted pork shoulder with this dry rub. I ate it for three days straight with rice. I get little food obsessions, especially with savory stuff.
Now for some holiday inspiration, you can try these brussels sprouts with grapes, the cutest xmas wreaths, pignoli biscotti, this amazing no-bread bruschetta, the cutest mini donuts, the perfect popcorn, gorgeous crunchy flatbreads, a caramel latte flan that’s haunting my dreams, the perfect pecan shortbread, fantastic award-winning sandwich cookies, golden baked acorn squash, the perfect eggs for brunch, crusty chilli buns.
A little bit of everything to cheer up this monday. And then something else.
The vintage recipe I’m sharing today surprised me. Not in the beginning, because I love chocolate and mint, and it seemed pretty straight forward. But the first step results in a very dubious looking mess, like chocolate jello that didn’t set and you don’t know what to do with it.
Well, after the cream is added and everything is whipped, a satiny, smooth, perfectly colored mixture emerges, wiping all doubts that it will be a great dessert. I sometimes wonder how anybody got to the end of the recipe with such a bad start.
This pie a perfect dessert for this season, the mint can be adjusted to your taste, and chocolate is always a favorite.
Yield:
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Ingredients
For crust:
- 1 ½ cups chocolate wafer crumbs
- 6 Tbs butter (melted)
For filling:
- 4 Tbs sugar
- 2 Tbs + 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Chocolate shavings and sliced almonds (for decoration)
Instructions
For crust:
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Mix crumbs with butter until it looks like wet sand. Place mixture in a 9-inch pie pan with removable bottom. Carefully press evenly against bottom and sides of the pan.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on wire rack completely.
For filling:
- In a small saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Add milk and cook on medium heat until mixture boils. Stir constantly to avoid lumps. Let it boil 1 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and immediately add chocolate and mint extract. Combine well. The mixture will look like a jello gone bad, don´t worry. Cover with plastic wrap touching the surface and let cool to room temperature. You can speed this process by refrigerating it.
- With electric mixer, beat chocolate mixture a bit. Add cream and slowly beat until smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Put filling in prepared crust and spread evenly. Refrigerate until ready to serve, at least 2 hours.
- Sprinkle with chocolate shavings and almonds if desired.
barely adapted from a Nestle magazine ad, circa 1980
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
December 23, 2012 at 20:06Thank goodness you didn't have a fire! You sound like you have been eating deliciously. Thanks for sharing this chocolate lovely.
Nancy @ gottagetbaked says
December 20, 2012 at 18:11lol thank God you had the surgical steel pans! If that happened to me with my ordinary flimsy steel, my place would've caught on fire! I am ALWAYS forgetting something in the kitchen. If I don't put my timer on, I totally walk away, start doing something else, then run panicked to my oven when I realized I left a sheet of cookies or a pan of cake, praying it's not burnt. This pie looks so luscious and dreamy. And congrats on the recognition – you deserve it!
Laura says
December 19, 2012 at 06:07Yum. I want this now.
Lisa Crunkhorn says
December 18, 2012 at 23:07This is making me crazy, Paula. A chocolate mint mousse pie? Can I come over for a giant slice? I'm seriously salivating here! Pinned.
And a HUGE congrats on the features too. You deserve them, well done! 🙂 And the pan, yikes!
-Lisa.
Sweet 2 Eat Baking
e / dig in says
December 18, 2012 at 22:00i live in fear of burning my house down, ever since i walked away from some stewing fruit and came back to a smouldering tar-y mess. i was going to throw the pot away (it wasn't an expensive one) and my parents, who hate waste, took it from me – i think dad sanded away the yuck with a power tool!!! so i am extra paranoid now.
i've never made a chocolate mousse pie; that looks so decadent but the recipe instructions seem so easy!
Renee Dobbs says
December 18, 2012 at 13:40So lucky you only had to deal with a smoke filled house and the pan. When I was a kid, my dad went outside and forgot to turn off a pan with grease on the stove and caught the kitchen on fire.
Beautiful tart and sounds so nice and creamy. A treat for chocolate and mint lovers.
Lizzy Do says
December 18, 2012 at 11:34I'm so glad I'm not the only one who has those kitchen moments! Just glad there wasn't any worse damage. Your pie is stunning…and it would certainly be popular with my kids. Pinning to save!
Caroline - All That I'm Eating says
December 18, 2012 at 11:18This looks so good, I could just do with a slice!
yummychunklet says
December 18, 2012 at 10:33Ooh, this chocolate mint pie sounds delicious. Almost like a grasshopper pie!
cakewhiz says
December 18, 2012 at 09:00omg! chocolate overload….my favorite type of overload 😀
this looks divine Paula!
Medeja says
December 18, 2012 at 05:45oh this pie looks chocolate and good!
surgical steel pans? how much does it cost..I have a feeling that they wouldnt be easy and cheap to get 😀